Snp labour government

0 Have your say The Scottish Government is under increasing pressure to reveal when it will raise the tax threshold. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the SNP government needed to declare if it was abandoning its commitment to raise the personal allowance, after Finance Secretary Derek Mackay failed to spell out when the change would be made.Three years ago Nicola Sturgeon said the government would raise the personal allowance level – the point from which tax is applied to earnings – to £12,750 by the financial year 2021/22. The current rate stands at £12,500, with earnings up to £14,549 taxed at 19 per cent.However in response to a parliamentary question from Mr Rennie asking if the commitment still stood, Mr Mackay would not confirm it was still government policy, stating only that: “Decisions on income tax rates and bands for each fiscal year will be announced at the Budget and associated Scottish Rate … [Read more...] about SNP economic ‘credibility at risk’ as it stalls on tax pledge

0 Have your say After the Euro elections Scottish Labour is staring virtual extinction in the face, yet a remedy for its failure is as elusive as ever, writes Gina Davidson Amid the clattering of plates and cutlery in a small, open plan, Mediterranean restaurant populated with theatre-goers and the odd EastEnders actress, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown met to discuss the future of the political project to which both were utterly committed. As they sat in Granita 25 years ago – almost to the day – their agreement would set in course a train of events which would radically alter both the Labour Party and Britain for the next two decades. As they sat in Granita 25 years ago – almost to the day – their agreement would set in course a train of events which would radically alter both the Labour Party and Britain for the next two decades. Their pact ushered in an era of transformational governments and saw a party which had previously been … [Read more...] about Insight: How Scottish Labour found itself in a ‘death spiral’

It’s an upsetting experience to be terribly failed by someone you once trusted. Not let down, like the best friend who doesn’t show up for your birthday party. Not even just low-level betrayal, like the mate who snogged your boyfriend. When you value your history together, minor morality lapses are often forgivable and former relationships retrievable. But it’s a very different story when you find yourself abandoned in your hour of deepest need, when the very person who could be relied upon to step up on your behalf absents themselves. Worse still, when they know they are failing you, yet shrug their shoulders and get on with what ever interests them more at the time. And so to the Labour Party. There was a time when it seemed like the most natural choice in the world to people like me, who grew up in the Thatcher years and knew nothing but a Tory government until we were in our 20s. The Labour Party was part of our society, integral to our communities, trusted to … [Read more...] about Labour Party has ‘entirely failed us’ when we needed them most

0 Have your say Amid the clattering of plates and cutlery in a small, open plan, Mediterranean restaurant populated with theatre-goers and the odd EastEnders actress, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown met to discuss the future of the political project to which both were utterly committed. As they sat in Granita 25 years ago – almost to the day – their agreement would set in course a train of events which would radically alter both the Labour Party and Britain for the next two decades. Their pact ushered in an era of transformational governments and saw a party which had previously been unelectable win three general elections, before it was ultimately consumed by the financial conflagration which swept the globe in 2008, triggering a recession, and handing the Conservatives a gift-wrapped hammer with which to pummel Labour’s record of 13 years in government.Is it over-reaching to suggest that the fateful meeting is even responsible for where the … [Read more...] about Insight: ‘Labour’s in a death spiral that can’t be stopped’

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Senior members of Britain’s Labour Party in Scotland blamed leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit “ambiguity” on Monday for a Labour wipeout in Scotland in the European Parliament election. Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appears on BBC TV's The Andrew Marr Show in London, Britain May 19, 2019. Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS Labour lost both of its Scottish European Parliament seats in Sunday’s vote, one to the Scottish National Party (SNP) and one to the Liberal Democrats. Results were announced on Monday. “The blame for the worst result in Scottish Labour’s history lies squarely with our party’s leadership,” Labour lawmakers Ian Murray and Martin Whitfield, who both represent Scottish seats in Britain’s parliament, said in newspaper The Scotsman. To win power in Britain, Corbyn would likely need a strong showing in left-leaning Scotland which for decades was a springboard … [Read more...] about Labour lawmakers in Scotland blame Corbyn for EU drubbing